push rods

[woknap]

Hey all.. I have a 93 Explorer XLT.. 125,000 miles on it. Quick question: Can I replace just the push rods and not do the rocker arms too? I havent been experiencing any "symptoms" of trouble with either the rods or arms, just thinking to be proactive since I have it all torn down working on other things..
thanks in advance for your thoughts~

 

[Anime]

You can replace the pushrods without replacing the rocker arms, sure, but if the rocker arms are the stock originals, chances are good they have the indentation on the valve end and should be replaced while you have everything apart.

New rocker arm assemblies are available from our Ford dealers that are forum vendors for about $80-90/ea (so you'll need two), which is less than you'd pay for individual aftermarket rocker arms. OE Ford pushrods are about $5/ea.

http://www.explorer4x4.com/lifters/lifters.htm

 

[natenkiki2004]

I've been wanting to post about this lately. My Ex would tick when cold but always fine when warmed up, until lately anyway. It's quieter when it's warm but still ticks under load occasionally. The previous owner replaced pushrods and rocker arms but I'm afraid the lifters might be causing premature wear. I don't how how many miles ago they were done but it's got 226,000 now. I think I've seen hardened pushrods, what about hardened rocker arms, aftermarket ones? I'd hate to replace them both just to find out the lifters need help too and are the cause of excess wear.

 

[woknap]

Thanks, pic is worth a 1000 words.
and thanks for the dealer reference

 

[Anime]

The rocker arms and rocker arm assemblies Ford sells are a revised part, and they are now made of harder metal than the originals. I'm not sure if all the aftermarket parts all use harder metal as well, but they should at least be better than the originals. There's a chance the rocker arms were just "replaced" with used ones from a lower mileage engine, so the same problem might be there, just delayed.

If there is just a light tick, and it's not loud like valve clattering, it might be something else other than the lifter issue, either a dirty engine with carbon buildup on the pistons/valves, or pinging from poor quality gasoline.

I'd say try getting gas at Chevron, Shell, or some other Top Tier fuel station from now on, and see if that improves things over the next few weeks/months.

You may also consider switching to the stock Motorcraft plugs. The NGK V-powers are good plugs for Japanese imports, but the OHV V6 seems to do best with the Motorcraft platinum plugs. A plug that is even slightly "off" can cause issues like ping or even poor idle and lousy performance.

 

[natenkiki2004]

That's something I've been meaning to ask the PO, if the valvetrain parts were new or what. I know the drivers side head was replaced, passenger is original so the lifters would have to be original too.

The tick in mine is pretty bad when cold. More often than not, louder than the engine. Like someone's tapping on the window with their fingernails. It will come and go until the engine warms up then there's just an occasional clatter. Definitely valvetrain issues.

I run premium ethanol-free gas, have all this year. Plugs are currently Autolite 765 coppers. I've been thinking about the Motorcraft ones over the NGK's. I've also seafoamed through the brake boost twice, plenty of crud got burned up.

I've tried Marvel Mystery Oil and Seafoam in the oil, neither made a difference in valvetrain noise. I was thinking of using a heavy duty oil that's thicker with more detergents, something like Rotella 15W-40 to see if it raises oil pressure and helps things out. Mostly an experiment.

I still need to get injectors done and while I have the upper intake off, I may pull the valve covers and take a peek at what's going on.

 

[Anime]

There may be issues with using a new head on one side and an original on the other. Aftermarket heads are stronger, but also better designed and flow more air, or there could just be an issue with the original head side - perhaps just the new head was bought complete and has new rocker arms, while the original side might not.

It's actually better to NOT run premium 92/93 octane gas in the OHV V6, unless you need it due to increased compression and/or a custom tune. The NGK V-power and the Autolites are both short-life copper plugs, the Motorcraft platinums will last longer and cost you less in the long run, and should perform better.

Using something like Marvel Mystery Oil or Seafoam in the engine oil should only be done immediately before an oil change. Driving with stuff like that in there thins out the oil and reduces protection, which can lead to issues.

Heavy Duty oil like 15W-40 is made for Diesel motors and is not something I would suggest in the OHV V6. 10W-30 is about the thickest I'd put in there, or something like German Castrol European Formula 0W-30, which is close to a 5W-40. Using an oil that is TOO thick will drag down the engine as the crankshaft has to slog through it, and thicker oil doesn't get into the parts that really need it on this motor, like the rocker arm oil holes. Sticking with 5W-30 is really the way to go, especially if there are no oil leaks.

 

[natenkiki2004]

You know your stuff Anime

I'll see if I can get info from the previous owner.

The reason why I'm running premium is that it's the only ethanol free gas near me and I hate seeing how easily water gets in to ethanol. Saw it on some small engines I had with fresh gas and Stabil. The other reason is that the previous owner had reported pinging with regular gas and fixed it by removing the octane shorting bar. I've since gotten another (it improved gas mileage) and, to avoid pinging (not that I've experienced it), use premium.

I only threw in the Autolite since they were cheap and the old ones had started to become rounded. I did that right when I got it as part of a tuneup. Been contemplating new ones ever since. RockAuto seems to have the double platinum Motorcraft plugs, pretty tempting.

I never ran Seafoam or MMO in the oil long periods of time, hell I've only put about 2k on the engine since I've had it. Both times were in there definitely under 100 miles. I've seen recommendations for 500 miles and even 24/7. I recently changed the oil at 1,100 miles because it was really dirty and had regular 5W-30 Valvoline High Mileage in it, fresh filter and no additive. Might just be my injector issues though.

Speaking of the 5W-30 I had in it, it seemed to get low rather quickly. I do have an oil pan leak and questionable valve covers and since it's summer, I switched to a 10W-30.

Thanks for the replies.